Dutch investors go to court over retailer accounts

A group of Dutch shareholders is taking Ahold, the troubled Dutch retailer, to court over last year's accounting scandal, which led to a 970m black hole in its accounts.

Dutch shareholder association VEB has subpoenaed Ahold to appear before the Amsterdam Court of Appeals, demanding the company's annual accounts from 1998 to 2002 be nullified and restated.

Ahold restated its 2002 accounts last year to show a net loss of 1.2billion, following the disclosure of an accounting scandal at its American subsidiary US Foodservice in February.

Shareholders lost money when the stock, once a favourite, fell by more than two thirds of its value in one day when the irregularities were made public. The scandal also led to the resignation of the chief executive and finance director.

Peter-Paul de Vries, chairman of VEB, said: "We want to know what exactly happened at US Foodservice. Who was responsible? Why did all internal control systems fail? Second, we demand all bonuses and options paid out to Ahold executives in the years 2000 to 2003 be paid back because they were based on mis-stated accounts."

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Mr de Vries said he planned to sue the cash-strapped retailer for "hundreds of millions of euros" in compensation if the Amsterdam court rules in favour of the shareholder association.

A spokesman for Ahold said the claim was "unfounded". "We intend to vigorously oppose it. Under US accounting rules, we disclosed 500 pages of information relating to US Foodservice last year. Instead of taking us to court, VEB should let us get on with what we are good at - being a grocer. This court case is not in our shareholders' interest at all."

The VEB case is the latest in a string of legal actions brought against Ahold in the aftermath of last year's accounting irregularities. The retailer is under investigation by the Dutch authorities, the US Justice Department and the Securities & Exchange Commission, while two class action suits brought by US investors are pending.